Santa Brett

Look very closely, and you can see that Brett Maddox, 59, sprays his beard with glitter. “I explain to the children that the reindeer like to fly me through the tails of shootings stars,” he said. And he carries around a driver’s license with the North Pole written on it to show children that he’s the real deal.

Though Maddox, who manages bed and breakfast inns in Manitou Springs, has been playing the character informally for 20 years, he decided to go to the Professional Santa Claus School of Denver so that he could prepare to become a full-time Santa when he retires. “My goal is the Super Bowl of Santas,” he said. “I want to be the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Santa.”